For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.
Parallel translations
- WEB For out of prison he came out to be king; yes, even in his kingdom he was born poor.
- KJV For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
- NKJV For he comes out of prison to be king, Although he was born poor in his kingdom.
- NASB for he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.
- NLT Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wise youth can rise from prison or poverty to kingship, showing fortune's surprising reversals. It matters because earthly position is unstable and provides no lasting security.
Overview
Continuing the parable, the Preacher notes that the lowly can ascend even from prison to a throne, as Joseph once did (Genesis 41). The point is the changeability of human fortunes 'under the sun.' Such reversals reveal that no earthly standing is secure, directing hope away from shifting circumstances toward the unchanging God whose kingdom does not pass away.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Gen 41:14So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.
- Ps 113:7–8He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Lam 4:20The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
- Job 5:11He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
- 2 Kgs 24:6And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
- Gen 41:33–44Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.
- 2 Kgs 24:12Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
- 2 Kgs 25:7And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- Dan 4:31While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.
- 2 Kgs 25:27–30On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.
- 1 Kgs 14:26–27He seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made.
- 2 Kgs 23:31–34Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
- 2 Kgs 24:1–2During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 4:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.